UNICEF recrute un consultant international pour fournir des revues techniques pour l’élaboration d’un manuel national de soutien psychosocial pour la Syrie

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For every child, Hope :

The country has experienced 10 years of conflict and most people have been exposed to or experienced violence, which had negatively impacted on them mentally and psychosocially, affecting especially children and women in varying degrees requiring redress. UNICEF child protection section, Syria country is collaborating with Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population (SCFAP) to develop a national comprehensive PSS manual. There are multiple partners and numerous manuals used by both humanitarian actors and public services providers in the country, therefore, a need   arose to harmonize and standardize implementation of PSS in country in manner that is efficient and effectively addresses the needs of the population.

The manual development entails working with the national inter-sectoral committee (Ministries of; MoSAL, Education, Health, Damascus university) established to harmonize the various MHPSS manuals in country into a comprehensive national manual which is context appropriate to Syria population needs. The committee reviewed over five different manuals and have identified best practices which are relevant to be applied in Syria by all actors. Therefore, the hired national consultant’s role is to technically verify and build contents of the documents into a manual which can be used to standardize and facilitate MHPSS services delivery. And develop a training manual/ guideline then train national resource persons (comprising of public services providers and humanitarian actors)

Therefore, UNICEF Syria thought it better to get technical  review  and support from an  external expert/consult on MHPSS to join the process to provide technical reviews and to provide  inputs in to the draft manual as drafted by the national consultant to ensure adherence to international standards addressing both development and humanitarian context and also to review the trainer manual /guidelines. The manual shall be drafted in Arabic and later translated into English.

 

Background and rational :

The population in Syria for past 10 years have been experiencing a crisis which had negative compounding effects on their psychosocial wellbeing. Multiple  displacement of populations  which greatly disrupted their normal families, communities , livelihoods and social life, plus affecting the functioning of formal government institutions which provided basic services to the population which mostly left  families and children  extremely vulnerable due to  numerous challenges or risk  including; separation of families,  occurrence of unaccompanied children, children without parental care due to death of  parents/caregivers and siblings, abusive family environment, negative attitude of parents who were impacted by psychological distress  and negative coping mechanism including to use of violent discipline and other practices which affects family and community interconnectedness and relations.

These experiences often led to increased psychological distress, and in the long term may affects the mental health and social wellbeing of the population which if left unattended or unaddressed negatively affects the growth and development of children and social fabric of families and communities amongst other effects including post-traumatic stress disorders.

There have been attempts by numerous actors including government facilities or institutions who are currently providing  basic social services including  Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)  to the population in needs as a result of the crisis from different sectors in either Internally Displaced People (IDP) camps, collective shelters or in host communities.  However, there is need to collaborate and coordinate with the different actors and sectors on common strategy and approaches using a standard national manual. Therefore, Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population (SCFAP) is leading this process in collaborations with other line ministries to harmonize the MHPSS manual to be used by all actors for a comprehensive and holistic response to community’s needs. And there is need to established linkages with other sectors through a reliable referral pathway or mechanisms to holistically address the needs of children and families including engaging with other actors and government institutions such as health, education, social welfare, universities across the country to enable comprehensive services provision and holistic approach to address needs of the population through provision of better quality and specialized services.

The year 2020 have also experienced the  outbreak of COVI19 pandemic which is also impacting on the life of the people in Syria and execrating  the existing psychosocial problems which requires amore swift MHPSS response due to it negative implications streaming from government response measures which includes restrictions of movements, closure of schools,  social and physical distancing   which further weakens the children and families ties and support systems and further social isolation and violence against women and children  cases are being reported. All these circumstances whether stable or humanitarian would require an efficient and effective MHPSS intervention by all actors across the country to address needs of population.

 

Objectives of the consultancy :

Aim and Objective : The main objective of this consultancy is to technically review and provide inputs into the draft  manual that is being developed by the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and Population (SCFAP) with funding from UNICEF  to ensure that the new comprehensive manual adheres to international best practices for the provision of comprehensive and effective services for affected population including Boys, girls, men, women and other with specific needs both in humanitarian and development contexts in Syria.

Specific objective :

To provide technical inputs to the various draft of the MHPSS curriculum including the M&E Framework with the aim of having one comprehensive national manual for all actors providing MHPSS services.  This review is to ensure that the developed curriculum adheres to :

• The latest minimum standards, theory of change, evidence-based criteria and international literature and best practices ;
• Provides facilitators with comprehensive and step-by-step tools for conducting an effective MHPSS programme ;
• That the curriculum covers all layer of the pyramid but with major focus on level 2 and 3 ;
• To provide technical inputs into the various versions of the Training of trainer’s manual to be used for training of national resource persons (all actors providing focused and non -focused practitioners) services for both public services providers and humanitarian actors.

 

Scope of the Consultancy :

The work is led by SCFAP technically and financially supported by UNICEF to develop a national PSS manual for Syria. This manual development entails working with the national inter-sectoral committee established to harmonize the various MHPSS manuals in country into a comprehensive national manual which is context appropriate to Syria population needs. Therefore, the scope of this consultancy is to technically verify and provide inputs on the contents of the manual which can be used to standardize and facilitate MHPSS services delivery. Also, review the training manual/ guideline that will be used to train national resource persons (comprising of public services providers and humanitarian actors). In addition, to ensuring a robust M&E framework that can be used to measure impact of PSS programing on children and families.

Location :

• The assignment shall be conducted by consultant working home -based.
• On-site working days : N/A
• Off-site working days :  30 days of work, all home-based.
• Field Missions/Travel : N/A

Duration :

• Estimated Start Date : July 2020 ;
• Estimated End Date : December 2020.

The selected consultant will work for the period of 30 workdays within July to December 2020. It is envisaged: 30 workdays out of county and no mission into the country. The exact schedule of the activities will be agreed with the consultant based on the consultancy implementation progress. The deadline for submission of final deliverables to UNICEF is December 2020.

Supervisor :

The consultant will be supervised and report to the UNICEF Chief of Child Protection Section with regular de-briefing with the UNICEF and Programme Officer about the progress of the consultancy. The consultant will work on daily basis with UNICEF Child Protection section for all negotiation and communicating through e-mail correspondence while outside of Syria.

Description of assignment: (tasks, smart deliverables, deadlines) :

No	Activities	Deliverables	July – August	Sept -Oct	Nov-Dec
1	Review first draft of PSS manual and provide inputs into the overall content, structure and validity of theory of change and its relevance to Syrian context.	A draft copy of manual with inputs on content, structure and relevant theories of change.	10 days
2	Review second draft PSS manual examining its content for different categories (children different age groups, parents and community-based approach)	A second draft manual with inputs on contents for different age groups addressed in manual.	5 days
3	Review the final draft content for completeness and technical appropriateness of translations into English.	A final draft manual with technical inputs including the M&E framework translated into English.		3 days
4	Review first draft of training manual for contents, required materials and appropriateness of sessions.	A draft copy of trainer’s manual with inputs on content, materials and relevant sessions.		5 days
5	Review final draft training manual and review its contents and technical appropriateness of materials and sessions.	A final draft of trainer’s manual with inputs on contents and technical appropriateness.		3 days
6	Review the final draft contents and technical appropriates of translations into English.	A final draft manual with technical inputs translated into English.			4 days

 

Payment schedule :

By Deliverable. The payment will be done according to the following installments :

1. 20% of total contract free upon satisfactory completion of deliverable 1 ;
2. 30% of total contract free upon satisfactory completion of deliverables 2 and 3 ;
3. 30% of total contract free upon satisfactory completion of deliverables 4 and 5 ;
4. 20% of total contract free upon satisfactory completion of deliverable 6.

 

Qualification requirements :

1. Education : Advanced university degree in Social Works, psychology, counselling or clinical psychology.  A first level university degree in Social works or psychology in combination with 12 years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree

2. Work experience : Minimum 10 years of professional work experience with government ministries or national / international actors with significant levels of engagements in MHPSS work with special empathizes on focused and non-focused PSS programming.

3. Technical knowledge/ competencies :

• Excellent interpersonal skills and Communicates effectively to varied audiences, including during formal public speaking.
• Excellent writing and presentation skills of works/ideas.
• Good ability to work effectively in a multi-sectoral environment with various line ministries and partners.
• Sets high standards for quality of work and consistently achieves desired deliverables timely.
• Demonstrated ability to engage effectively with, particularly at senior levels in government, humanitarian and development actors.

4. Language Proficiency :

Excellent Written and fluency in Arabic. English is desirable.

Qualified candidates are requested to submit :

1. Cover letter/application ;
2. Financial quote as lump sum for professional fees ;
3. CV ;
4. Examples of previous, relevant work as applicable ;
5. Proposed methodology/approach to managing the project ;
6. At least three Referees.

 

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, and Accountability (CRITA) and core competencies in Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results.

View our competency framework at : UNICEF_Competencies.pdf

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

 

Remarks :

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.